3 minute read

Resuming youngster Halo Bright may not be a very experienced racehorse but he did a super job to overcome a severely impeded run to the winning post to still claim his maiden victory in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden race over 1000m on Friday night.

The Tycoon Ruler three-year-old was indeed in a real pickle when from the 300m mark, a very wayward Kratos, who was at only his second start, suddenly carried him right across the Polytrack towards the grandstand side. It looked like Kratos’ rider, apprentice jockey Wong Chin Chuen could not properly assist his mount, unable to ride out while struggling to keep him on a straight course.

On his end, Halo Bright’s jockey Manoel Nunes could only do his best to minimise the degree of interference while giving his mount every conceivable chance to still take the race.

Though the two main protagonists, coincidentally both grey, had drifted completely off the track, they were still well ahead of the remaining six runners, an indication of their clear superiority.

Halo Bright never gave up, stretching his neck out to land the race from Kratos for a fair result which in a way probably saved all concerned from having to sit in the Stewards’ room to determine the outcome of the race.

Nunes was glad he came out the victor from the hairy tussle, but never for one second panned Wong for his handling of Kratos, given the spot of bother they were both in from the top of the straight.

“I’m glad we won. I think we would have won by a bigger margin if we had been on his (Kratos) inside,” said the Brazilian jockey who was climbing back to the top of the premiership, one win clear of Vlad Duric with that latest win.

“That horse was already hanging out as we came to the home turn, but as I was outside him, that in a way helped CC to keep him straight.

“But once CC started to put some pressure, his horse hung out badly. I could not ride my horse properly, but he kept hitting the line solid, and luckily, we were able to win in the end.”

Wong looked dejected as he dismounted, revealing that the saddle had slipped as a result of the taxing time trying to steer the rudderless horse.

“I was struggling to keep him straight. He was hanging out badly,” said the current leading apprentice jockey.

“Because I was fighting him so hard, in the end, it caused the saddle to slip.”

As unfortunate as that incident was for the second favourite ($16), it still did not take anything away from Halo Bright’s ($49) ability and first visit to the winner’s enclosure for his owners, the Titanium Racing Stable of Jeffrey Soh.

“He had a problem last time. He never seemed to let down,” said trainer Theo Kieser.

“We found out he had some problems with his upper suspensories, and that’s why he’s been kept off the track, and as a result, he was up 16 kilos tonight.

“He was probably one barrier trial short, but I thought over 1000m, he might get away with that. The other horse carried him out, and we could say he should have won by further or the other horse would have won if he had gone straight, but we will never know.

“What matters is he won. The other horse (Banda Sea) also ran well, and is probably looking for 1100m.”